HE KNOWS HE CAN’T ESCAPE

"Pleasant Hill Morning", watercolor, 

by Andy Smith

He knows he can’t escape

sitting beside the window

at this moment and seeing

the beige bedspread

and hearing the sounds

of heat in the baseboards.

Souvenirs are presented to him

second by second,

and he has no choice

but to be present as they are given,

these gifts, 
this lamplight on a blue wall

and the wrinkled red cushion

on a rocker across the room

from where he necessarily sits.